Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze: ‘The NATO Summit in Vilnius should give a clear signal regarding Ukraine's membership’

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine’s integration into the EU met with the delegation of the Polish Senate headed by Deputy Marshal Michal Kaminski.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze thanked Poland for the constant support of Ukraine in defence against Russia. She emphasised that Poland and Ukraine are unanimous in providing Ukraine with weapons, financial aid, and sanctions pressure on Russia. At the same time, the Chair of the Committee urged her Polish colleagues to work with Western politicians who are still afraid to provoke the Russian Federation: ‘They are still very afraid of the escalation of the war. But they should understand that Russia does not need an excuse for escalation. It creates these reasons itself’.

The Chair of the Committee expressed hope that at the end of this year Ukraine will start negotiations on joining the EU. Accordingly, it is necessary to fulfil the conditions that our state received along with the granting of candidate status. Regarding joining NATO, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is convinced that the West must not repeat the mistake it made in 2008, when Kyiv was denied an Action Plan for NATO membership. At the summit in Vilnius, in July of this year, the Alliance should give a clear signal to Ukraine regarding its future membership, the Chair of the Committee is convinced. ‘The Vilnius summit should outline our relations with NATO, or end with an explicit invitation to Ukraine after the end of the war, after our joint victory, or send a clear, unambiguous signal concerning our membership’.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze also reported that on the eve of the meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in May this year, Ukrainian MPs, together with their European colleagues, are preparing a resolution on Ukraine's future place in the Alliance. ‘We do our utmost to convince the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to support the resolution, which should expand the political decisions that will be adopted during the Vilnius summit. In this context, we call on Poland to support us strongly on this platform’, said the Chair of the Committee.

Michal Kaminski thanked Ukraine for its fight for the freedom and values of the whole of Europe. He is convinced that Ukraine should receive clear timeframes for joining the European Union and NATO.